Tyoma – Mirror (Life on Mars)

Tyoma is Artem Karchenko from Russia and this is his new album. Only a preview so having to extrapolate from not very much.

There’s quite a combination of styles gathered here. Giorgio Moroder meets techno, ambient and film score for a coffee at the cosmic space cafe. So ‘Intro,’ ‘Unclose’ and ‘Cut’ channel their inner ’80’s synth pop outwards via mid-tempo beats and fat, shimmering synths along the lines of Kavinsky’s Nightcall, while ‘Desolation,’ and ‘Emblematic,’ despite the retention of the synth pop sound, possess a more modern feel as the techno seeps in. The intro to ‘Pause’ wouldn’t have sounded out of place as part of the Bladerunner soundtrack with its off-kilter synths but then peels off into something more contemporary as our music maker switches tone again and it all becomes a bit more Bourne Identity.

Ambient emerges in the lovely ‘Reflection,’ with its pulsating resonations akin to a ship in space and more gentle beats abound with the delicate ‘Dialogue,’ the twinkling keyboards sprinkled over a soft, dreamy rhythm. The same can be said of ‘Formation’ with its euphonious vibe of orchestral synth, tap-tap beat and sweet melody. To finish, ‘1st’ again blends genres with Zimmer style synths, a brisk beat and vocal snatches.